Travels (or Travails) of a Senior Citizen

Senior Citizens are likely face a harder time finding travel insurance for themselves. Physical hardships cannot be avoided but certainly can be taken care of.

Harsh Roongta

21 May 2010

One
of my batch mate's father wanted to visit him in the US, so he was
running around to tie up a lot of loose ends like VISA, tickets and
shopping for his grand children, son and daughter-in- law. Amidst all
this a very critical issue bothered him difficulty in getting
travel insurance. He had only recently recovered from acute Asthma
attack that had required hospitalization for a few days. He was keen
to visit his son and grand children but did not want to become a
financial burden on them if something happened to his health while he
was in the US.

He
knew the cost of treatment in the US was prohibitive, hence wanted to
be prepared for any expenses arising from a medical emergency, which
may lead to hospitalization while on the trip. Because of his
pre-existing disease (asthma and some other complications as well) he
was finding it difficult to get a travel insurance. He requested me
for assistance and to help him. I spoke to few friends in the
industry on the matter.

Here
is a small report on what I found.

Although
a must have requirement for a senior citizens traveling abroad,
insurance companies are not exactly enthusiastic about covering
people who are above 60 years of age. I spoke to quite a few
insurance Brokers active in this area and somebody who agreed to be
quoted was Mr. V Sithapathy, Principal officer of VIG India insurance
Brokers and the Secretary of insurance Brokers Association of India.

PSU
insurers are reluctant to provide overseas mediclaim policy for the
persons above 70 years says Sithapathy. Even private companies are
reluctant too. Obviously the higher risk attached to a senior
citizens makes it less attractive for them. They normally insist on a
detailed medical examination for people above that age which as
Sithapathy says may not be practical for their age. Most
large insurance brokers are able to get the policy for their specific
clients on the basis of their relationship with the insurance
companies but this is a case by case approach which does not help the
population at large. In almost all the cases hospitalization arising
from pre-existing diseases is not covered. ICICI Lombard does cover
hospitalization costs even on pre-existing diseases but only limited
to Life saving unforeseen emergency measures, or measures solely
designed to relieve acute pain. Even where the cover is available it
is limited to USD 25,000 to USD 50,000 which is insufficient for any
major hospitalization that may unfortunately occur.

Another
option is to purchase overseas Visitor Policies from the American
companies but even they do not cover pre-existing diseases and
provide only limited cover upto USD 50,000 for people aged 70 and
above. Besides they are quite expensive as compared to the overseas
mediclaim policies available from Indian companies.

Medical
costs abroad are very high as compared to the India and any medical
emergency abroad may not only result in loss in health but also may
cause major damage to your finances, if you are not insured
properly. Thus, travel insurance becomes the most essential item on
your shopping list if you are planning to travel abroad.

Please
keep the following things in mind while buying this policy:

Any
pre-existing disease comes under permanent exclusion of the policy.
So if you have had any pre-exiting disease before traveling, any
hospitalization cost arising out of it will not be covered in the
policy except for a very limited extent as stated earlier in the
article.

Any
treatment, which can be reasonably delayed until the Insured's
return to India will not be covered under this policy. The decision
will be jointly taken by the physicians and qualified personnel, as
the case may be.

For
medical coverage, the most important thing to remember here is that
most policies cover to a maximum of USD 100,000 per sickness.
However most insurance companies provide only upto USD 50,000 (USD
25,000 in some cases) for Senior Citizens thus making it extremely
risky for them to travel to advanced countries where the medical
costs can be prohibitive. So in case you get admitted in hospital
due the same illness and the costs crosses USD 100,000 then the
policy won't cover you for the same. If you take a sum assured of
USD 500,000 then utilizing it for one illness is not possible.

Is the
scenario where senior citizens pay more for travel insurance because
of their older age, declining health, and pre-existing health
conditions fair? No. But unfortunately, it is legal.

There is
very little you can do about the age bracket you are in but you can
do your part to make sure that you find the insurance you need for
your trip, at an affordable rate.

So you should start
looking early. Since
you know that you are likely face a harder time finding insurance,
you will need to allow yourself more time to look for it. Don't
wait until a few weeks before your trip to start looking or youll
likely end up not finding any coverage or paying way too much for
it.

If you currently have insurance, then check with those
providers to determine whether or not they offer seniors travel
insurance. It is much easier to obtain cover with an insurer that is
already familiar with your health and medical history, then to look
for a brand new one. Also talk to the Insurance broker of your
employer company (where you worked before retirement) or your son's
employer.

What happened to my friend's father?
Well we managed to get him a travel policy for USD 50,000 (of course
with Asthma not covered). He consulted his family doctor and decided
he could indeed take the risk to undertake the 30 day trip to visit
his grandchildren.